May 2018 update

The boys have both started their AFL seasons this month. Carter is in Jets Black U8 and Linc is in Jets Blue U10. Luckily they both have lots of their friends on their teams so they are pretty happy to go each week. What's even better is one of the parents on Linc's team is obviously a professional photographer and takes some amazing photos like the ones below:

So things have been going really well lately (aside from lots of travel for Dad). But then the evening of 18 May rocked our worlds when our little baby girl got hurt.


From left to right: at the hospital; two stitches in (with no anesthesia); and stitches out (one week later).

So what happened? She was playing away happily and tripped and fell onto the footstand of one of our bar stools. It wasn't a big impact, but the sharp edge opened her up like a sardine can. We were all in PJs, just about to dish up dinner and then it happened; we rung Aunty Suze to meet us at the hospital and jumped into the car to go to the Emergency Department. The Dr. that looked at her said it would probably be fine to glue the wound. So after that we went home and put her to bed. Next morning we awoke to blood in her cot and on her clothes and a gaping wound again - the glue had come out. So Mum took her back to the hospital where they had to give it a really (painful!) clean out and decided it actually did need stitches. Because of how brave she was when cleaning the inside of the wound out they decided to try the stitches with no anesthetic. And she was amazing - unbelievably brave. To be honest, Mum and Dad were more shook up about the whole thing than she was. The boys were also a bit upset, and they looked after her really well when she came home.

A couple of days after Addi's accident we took the kids to the Reptile Centre as a welcome distraction.  The kids (and Mum and Dad) had a great time:

April 2018 update

As a special way to celebrate a special birthday, the family went to Adelaide (fast becoming our second home!) for ten days. The weather was great - maybe too hot! - but we had a good time despite only getting to swim once and not making it to the jetty for a spot of fishing. Next time!

March 2018 update

Only just snuck in a blog post for March! So here goes with a general update.

Linc has had five teeth removed. Following in his father's footsteps, one of his top front teeth did not have room to break free of the gum in the normal spot, so room was made via an extraction of the baby teeth - and then some more got pulled for good measure. He was very brave though, as the needles were quite painful!

Addi is growing as fast as ever; her vocabulary is simply amazing (pretty sure I've mentioned that before!). She is definitely over her 'daddy's girl' phase, and only has time for Mum these days. Still hasn't transitioned to the toilet yet, but did her first no. 1 on the loo the other day and was very excited. She is doing much better at daycare; no more tears when Mum drops her off which is a big relief.

Carter and Linc have been doing Little Athletics this season; they have enjoyed it, and got plenty of PBs which helps maintain their interest. But they really have not been getting on of late; it's very frustrating and we are constantly pulling them up for it.

Mum did her back in two months ago, and is only just recovering after having four weeks off work. Then she decided to go the dentist where they found some pretty serious issues that required a fair amount of work (no extractions thankfully!). Her 'issue' at her work continues to linger, and we hope to have it resolved very soon as it really has caused the whole family unnecessary stress and anxiety. But it just reinforces how horrible people can be and the sense of 'community' is simply non-existent these days. Really sad.

Happy new year, Adelaide, Happy birthday, Happy birthday!

And it's February already. One of the busiest months of the year passed by so quickly, and two of our offspring are a year older.

Firstly, Adelaide was great (again). Although the weather wasn't hot (so we only got to the beach once) it was nice to get away. The boys tried fishing for the first time; Lincoln loved it (as he got quite a few bites) and Carter... well, not so much (as he got no bites). The fact we caught nothing didn't help make it any more exciting for Carter, plus it was a bit cold and wet - maybe next time.

Addi's birthday fell perfectly on a Sunday, so it was great to go to the local cafe for lunch and cake with family.  We also celebrated Linc's birthday with the same cake.

Unsurprisingly Addi was spoiled rotten but had a ball opening all of her presents. 

Dad was lucky enough to have a day off on Linc's birthday so we all went to the cinema to see a rather ordinary movie (Jungle Bunch). But the kids loved it, so that's what counts. Just like Addi, Linc got heaps of lovely pressies, including a new scooter to match Carter's Globber.

Dad organised for Linc to have a ride in a Shelby Mustang GT500; he was probably happier just to look at it, as the acceleration/noise was quite scary for him - but he loved showing it off to his friend Joseph!

Merry Christmas!

Three-family holiday at Kiama

 

Six nights to relax, refresh, and recuperate

We have just returned from six nights at Palm Cove in far North Queensland. And it was fantastic. It was very special to be able to go (thanks Qantas FF points for the flights and Gran and Pop for the free accommodation!) and marked ten years since we were in Palm Cove for our honeymoon!

We hired a Landrover Discovery Sport and just did whatever we felt like; some days we did nothing but walk on the beach, drink coffee, drink cocktails and sit on the balcony of our apartment overlooking the pool (and more drinking!).

It’s the first holiday we’ve ever taken that was all about relaxing; the only thing we had booked in was a guided Croc spotting JetSki tour which left from the Cairns marina (unfortunately only Dad saw the tail of a small croc as we did the tour on high tide so no big crocs!). We did make it to the Daintree (where we saw a Cassowarry!) as well as Kuranda (which is now way too touristy to be enjoyable).

Mum got swooped by Plovers and we were astounded to see so many baby cane toads as we made the regular trek from the Sebel Palm Cove apartment to the beach (a 10 minute stroll past some lovely houses).

In no time at all the six nights were up and we were ready to head home, missing our little ones very much. And it was on the last full day that we saw a Croc on Palm Cove beach! It was around 2.5m long and was fighting against a strong current to get back to the estuary where it came from. It caused the beach to be closed and drew quite a crowd.